Welcome BackNot
by megamatchmaker
Summary: The proper summary is just to say too long so it's inside. Warning: there will be spoilers from all the books and there is going to be a lot of swearing in this.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi! This is my new story I'm working on. After I read the first book 2 years ago, this has been stuck in my head all this time. I only just decided to start writing it now because it was taking up most of the space in my head and I couldn't think of stuff for my other stories.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from The Mortal Instruments series. The characters, items, and everything else all belong to the amazing Cassandra Clare (both she and Stephenie Meyer are amazing writers in my opinion.)**_

Summary:  
What if Jace went with Valentine through the Portal in CoB, and a few years later, found out he wasn't Clary's brother? What if he came back after? How much has Clary changed in those few years apart, and how will she take it knowing that they aren't related at all?

**Ch. 1 Jace's POV**

It seemed like it has been centuries since I was on these ground last. The Institute still looked exactly the same, standing tall and proud as it was safely hidden from the mundanes with the glamour that was placed on it. The Gothic cathedral structure with tall towers seemed to pierce through the clouds that were turning pinks and gold with the setting sun. I almost forgot about why exactly I had left this place for, but then I remembered; Valentine.

I felt the anger that I was holding in seemed to grow at the mere thought of him and what he had done to me; how he had tricked me into thinking that I was his son, and how he convinced me to follow him into Idris. How he tricked me into leaving behind the Lightwoods and Clary.

God how I missed Clary! All this time I thought I was her big brother, and I felt so wrong about my feelings for her. It had only been a short while ago that I had found out the truth.

_Flashback_

_ "Alzric!" I ordered and not a second later did the warlock appear. He looked like he would have been no younger then I am, with skin a deep, dark color, as though he had been out in the sun for too long, and long hair that looked like the color or an oil slick. He would have looked like an ordinary mundane, if not for his eyes being completely black and the electric blue wings producing from his shoulders._

_ "Yes, young master Johnathan?" the warlock spoke as he bent so low that his nose could have touched the ground. I held out a large brown envelope to him._

_ "I want you to send these to a hospital, whether it be mundane or one of our own, I don't care. The following instructions that are inside are not for your eyes to see. If I find that you have read them, and trust when I say that I will, I shall prove to you that my father is not the only one who knows how to torture your kind," I hissed out the last part so dangerously that I had him cowering before me. He raised a shaking hand and grasped the envelope, turning to leave._

_ "And you will tell no one of this- including my father. Is this understood?" I threatened. Alzric nodded obediently and then disappeared into thin air_

_End Flashback_

That is how I found out about the lies Valentine had told me. With a DNA test coming back negative for a parent/child match, I found the truth- I was not Johnathan Morgenstern. If I really was Michael Wayland's son, I did not know. But that mattered little at the moment.

Now, after finding the perfect escape from Valentine's manor, I was home. As I walked up to the doors to ring the bell, two figures appeared in the doorway, each heavily armed and dressed in basic Shadowhunter gear. I recognize the heads of pure black hair anywhere.

"Izzy! Alec!" I exclaimed joyfully as I began to walk faster towards them. But as I got closer, Isabelle lashed out with her gold whip and snapped it tightly around my ankles, pulling me to the ground with a hard thud. When I pushed myself up and turned around, I found an angel blade pointing directly at my throat.

"Guys, it's me- it's Jace!" I said as I held my hands up in surrender.

"Prove it," Isabelle hissed.

"Fine; Isabelle, your motto is nothing less then seven inches when it comes to shoes, your cooking is absolutely terrible, and you love the color purple. Alec, you've never been able to kill a demon before, you dislike spiders, and-"

"Ok, we get it," Alec said as he pulled the blade away from my neck and sheathed it and Isabelle untangled the whip. As I got up on my feet, I was almost knocked back down again as Isabelle plowed into me.

"I'm so happy to see you Jace!" she squealed as she hugged me to death. I returned the gesture and gave a hug to Alec as well.

,:~:,

We were all sitting in Izzy's room, and I realized that it hasn't changed one bit. Same bright colors, same giant mess of clothing; everything.

"So let me get this straight," Alec started. "You got a DNA test, found Valentine wasn't your dad, and then you left in the middle of the night and came here?"

"Yeah, and I'm relieved about it. Where's Clary, by the way? I want to tell her the good news," I said happily. At the mere mention of Clary's name, both siblings paled in color and turned to look at each other.

"Well… Jace, there's something you should probably know-" Izzy started up, but a knock on the door caused her to stop and turned her head as it opened.

"Hey Izzy, you in here? I was wondering if you knew where-" the voice said and I turned to see who it was, and I was stunned.

There, standing in Shadowhunter gear and the jacket open to reveal a black tank top, was Clary. Her red hair had grown longer and slightly darker, she stood taller- maybe almost my height- and she filled out in all the right places. She had a few weapons in the belt she was wearing and a whip like Izzy's was wrapped around her left arm. Beside her was the electric blue cat Church.

"Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in. No offense Church," Clary said as she bent down to scratch at his fur. Then she straightened up and walked over to us, wrapping into a hug. I returned the gesture, feeling so happy to have her in my arms, where I was determined to keep her. "Hey there big bro. How's it going?"

"I'm good. I'm really, _really_ good," I said as I squeezed tighter. But as I did, she pulled away.

"Careful!" Clary squealed as she pulled back. "I'm still a little messed up from earlier. Damn Forsaken downtown threw me into a brick wall."

"Are you hurt?" I asked as I checked for injuries, but couldn't see any.

"Yeah, I'm good. Takes more then some lame-brain creature like that to get me down," she said proudly.

"So did you get it?" Izzy asked.

"Damn straight! Oh, and thanks for the ring Iz. Worked like a charm." Clary raised her right hand to show a thick ring with black runes of strength and speed on her index finger. But what really caught my eye was the one on her actual ring finger; an Irish claddagh with an emerald stone centered as the heart… that was pointing inwards. **(AN: A claddagh is an Irish ring that represents relationships. On the right hand, if the heart points to your wrist, it means you're in a relationship.)**

"Where did you get that?" I almost whispered as I pointed to the ring. Clary looked at her hand in confusion to what I asked before letting out a small laugh.

"Oh, this! It's from Simon!" I didn't like how she said the mundane's name. "That reminds me Iz- you know where my fave top is at?"

"You mean that halter/corset one? The dark green one?" "Yeah, that's the one." "It's in the laundry room. Mom washed it for you the other day."

I looked at Clary nervously. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm going out tonight. I've got a date," she answered, and I felt that the world had stopped.

_Clary? On a date?_ A part of me should be happy for her. She was able to move on with her life. But all I felt was pure torture. How could she have forgotten me that quickly? As I looked at her face, I noticed that there was a small scar along her throat. _Where did she get that from?_

"Yikes! I gotta jet! I'm gonna be late!" Clary said as she looked at the clock by Izzy's bed before she ran out the door and down the hall.

"What the Angel's name was that about?" I turned to ask the two Shadowhunters before me. Alec looked away, almost scared by me, but Izzy stood her ground like she usually did.

"You remember Simon, right?" I nodded at her question, starting to feel impatient about this. "Well, a couple weeks after you left, Simon was attacked. A mundane mugger in some dark alley. Anyway, Simon still had blood in his system from that vampire when he was at Dumort, and he was badly hurt from the mugger. He turned vamp.

"Simon's still a great guy!" Izzy quickly added at my terrified expression. I wasn't scared for myself. I was scared for Clary. I didn't want her to get hurt. "And the weirdest thing is he's able to walk in the sunlight!"

"How is that possible? All vampires burn in sunlight!" I nearly shouted as I shot up from my seat.

"No clue," Alec said finally. I nearly jumped again when I heard him; I forgot that he was even there. "All we know is that he can, and there are plenty of vamps that want his head on a silver platter."

,:~:,

"A vampire, Clary? A _vampire?!_" I asked to the door of her bathroom. I was sitting in Clary's room, waiting for her to finish getting ready for her _date_ tonight. The walls were painted a deep purple, but were covered by at least a dozen posters from magazines. The bed was neatly made, not a hair out of place, and the clothes in the open closet were perfectly arranged.

"Yes, I know he's a vampire Jace. I'm not dumb, jackass," Clary said as she opened that door. When she did, I thought my jaw hit the floor.

Clary was wearing a deep green halter corset shirt and black leather pants that hung low on her hips. She had a pair of black stiletto boots which reached up to her knees and looked like they were at least three inches tall, silver and green metal bracelets around both wrists, and silver hoops in her ears. Around her neck was black velvet choker, with a silver bat-winged emerald, and on her hand was the claddagh and Izzy's ring. Her eyes were lined heavily with black eyeliner and dark green eye shadow.

"What are you wearing?" I asked as I raised a shaky finger. Yes- shaky; that outfit was _way_ too sexy for her to wear out in public.

Clary looked at herself in the mirror beside her and looked back at me confused. "It's called an outfit Jace. I'm going to Pandemonium tonight. Major party and I need to dress to impress after all."

"No way! You are NOT going out like that!" I yelled at her. She just simply shrugged and muttered 'whatever' before heading to the door. She didn't even take two steps before my hand lashed out and wrapped around her arm.

"Clarissa Fray, you are not going out with that leech looking like that!" I yelled as I spun her to face me. When I did, I was lucky that I ducked just in time, because her fist would have made contact with my face.

"Fuck you Jace! You may be my brother, but I don't give a shit!" she shouted at me as she walked closer with a deadly look in her eyes that had me backing up.

"Simon may be a vampire, but at least he didn't just ditch me when I needed a friend! Maybe you may not realize it, but Mom's still in the hospital, Valentine's still at large, and he has _two_ of the Mortal Instruments! Add that to the fact that my memories of all this shit were only starting to come back at the time, and I needed to begin my training, and you get one very fucked up life!

"Simon was there for me, and I care about him. He's the best boyfriend a girl could ever have and he would never do anything to hurt me. So don't you dare insult him, or I swear to the Angel that you'll regret ever meeting me!" And with that, she grabbed her jacket from the back of her desk chair and walked out of the room.

I stood there stunned for a moment before I snapped out of it and ran after her. But with my hesitation, Clary was already too far ahead, and I caught up with her just as the elevator was descending. I slammed my fist into the wall beside me and looked out of the window there.

Out on the street was a boy, who I realized was Simon dressed in a dark green shirt, jeans and a leather jacket, on a pure black motorcycle. I heard the doors to the Institute open and slam close and noticed Clary run up to him and wrap her arms around him, pulling him into a kiss. I felt the rage in me intensify and watched as she then jumped on the back of the bike and they sped off to Pandemonium.

**_So here's the first chapter. What do you think? A good story idea or a total flop? Please review and give me your honest opinion- criticize me, tell me it's terrible if you want to, but please be honest with me._**

**_Thank you!!_**

**_Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hi again! Well, I think I will continue writing up this story. After all, my brain's not letting me do anything else, so I might as well. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with the good work I seem to be doing for this and still be able to write my other stories just as well.**_

_**OK, disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns everything. I just own the occasional random character and stuff like that. Nothing out of the ordinary.

* * *

  
**_

**Ch. 2 Clary's POV**

"I can't believe that… That jackass!" Simon shouted as we waited in line to get to Pandemonium.

"My thoughts exactly," I answered as I toyed with the zipper of my jacket. "I don't get it though. Why's he back now? It doesn't make any sense." Now, I know that I sound calm and everything right now, but to be perfectly honest- I'm actually feel like I'm going to pass out!

When I went into Izzy's room and saw Jace sitting there, I was beyond freaked. Not as freaked as I was by everything else that has happened to me in the past three years, but damn, is it close. Luckily, after lots of training and practice, I've been able to keep my emotions in check and not give away anything.

"Maybe he's under orders from your dad." When he said that, I whirled on him.

"Valentine is NOT my father. I don't care what anyone or anything says- that sick bastard will never be considered family to me," I hissed. Simon merely held up his hands in surrender. I sighed as I closed my eyes and rubbed at my temple.

"I'm sorry, Simon. It's just that everything is so messed up right now. With Mom still unconscious, and Luke's hardly even around because of… business," I said since the group of teenage girls behind us were standing so close as they were ogling at my boyfriend, "plus there's everything going on with Valentine and now with Jace- I'm gonna lose it!"

I felt a cool finger under my chin and slight pressure pushing up. I opened my eyes and looked at Simon, who was looking at me with complete love. "Well, it's a good thing that you're so beautiful." I smiled and pulled him down for a peck on the lips, but he held me in place and I heard the girls behind us sigh in frustration.

"You must really like all this attention from girls now a days," I stated when I pulled back to breathe.

Simon shrugged. "Not really. I don't even pay attention, and why should I? I've got you."

"That is so corny," I said as I leaned into his embrace. "But you love it!" he laughed, and I couldn't help from grinning myself.

,:~:,

Eventually, we were allowed into the club, after my I.D. was checked and I got my jacket hung up in the coat room. The same style of music was playing like always, and for once, I actually liked it. The lyrics had a sort of dangerous/hypnotic feel to them, and I just felt myself move sensually to the beat along with Simon. The mundanes in the room were completely oblivious to the fact that there was a vampire in the room with them, and that's the way is suppose to be.

Three years ago, I would have never believed that there were demons or monsters that walked around right before me. If someone had told me, I probably would have laughed at them or called the nearest insane asylum. But now, I can see right through their glamour they possess and I hunt those that deserve to die. And speaking of, there is one creature in the room.

"Simon," I whispered to him, but I knew that he could easily hear me over the blaring of the speakers. He looked down at me and I simply nodded towards a guy on the other side of the room whose back was turned to us.

The guy was obviously a demon- well, to me anyway- but to the eye of a mundane, he looked like a god. He was tall, at least six feet, with short rich brown hair and rather tanned skin. When he turned, he wasn't looking at us, but I saw that his eyes were a vibrant green and his features looked like a supermodel's. He was dressed from head to toe in dark clothes, and I caught the slight glimmer of a metal blade on the inside of his jacket pocket.

I remember seeing him before. Two years ago, when I was fighting a group of demons that Valentine had somehow been able to control and sent them to Brooklyn to cause mayhem. Anyway, I didn't fight him, but I remember seeing that guy run away when we were defeating them.

"Go on," Simon said as he pushed lightly on my back. "Go and have some fun. I'll be right behind you." I smiled and pecked his lips before I started to dance away from him and towards the demon.

I made sure that when I danced in front of the guy, I would look tempting. I knew that I did judging by the looks I received from the other males around me. I caught his eyes for a second, and to really get his attention, I ran my hands over my curves and looked at him with half-lidded eyes, looking like a girl who is interested in landing a guy in bed tonight. I was glad that I used the rune I created to hide my other marks from any creature, even demons. He grinned before he came up to me and joined in my dancing. I smiled seductively at him, but on the inside I was trying to vomit.

We continued dancing like that for two more songs before I felt him tug on my hand. Keeping up with my charade, I allowed him to bring me over to the wall and let him push me up against it as he ran his hands over me. I looked around us when he started kissing at my neck, and saw Simon go into the supply closet- the exact same one where this life began for me.

"Not here," I purred in the demon's ear, and he looked at me confused. I jerked my head over to the closet and I ran my hand up under his shirt. He grinned at me and yanked me to the door, where he pushed me in and closed it quickly behind him.

"So sweetie," he said. He advanced on me and pushed me up against the door. What he didn't know was when he had his back to me, I removed my steele from my pocket, and when he pushed me against the door, I wrote a sealing rune on it. "I never got you name by the way."

"It's Clary. Clary Fray," I purred to him. As soon as he heard that, I saw his eyes widen in surprise. While he was still in shock, I quickly shoved him away and extracted the angel blade from my left boot that I always kept with me and spoke its name. The blade sprung from the handle and began to glow brightly, lighting the small area around me. Simon came from the shadows where he was hidden and wrapped his arm around the demon's throat, fangs extended.

"You're a Shadowhunter!" the guy hissed through teeth clenched in pain. I knew that Simon was probably crushing his windpipe, but who cares?

"And you're a pathetic sack of demon shit," I answered back. "Now I'm only going to ask you this once, moron- where is Valentine?"

"I'll never tell you!" he said and he spat into my face. I wiped at my face and looked down at my hand in thought. Next thing he knew, the back of my hand collided hard with his cheek and I heard the distinct sound of the vertebrae in his neck snap as his head shot to the side and he grew limp in Simon's grip. Simon let him fall to the ground and when he did, I thrust the blade though the creature's back where the heart was. Black blood splattered the wall, and I jumped back from it to avoid ruining my clothes and I watched as the body began to fold into itself.

"Well, that wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped," I sighed as I closed the blade and shoved it back into my boot. Simon chuckled and pulled me to him. I smiled and as I was about to kiss him again, the door actually opened. I spun around and saw the last person I wanted to see- my brother.

Jace was looking right at us and judging by the look on his face, he thought we were doing a lot more then making out in the closet. But when he looked around the rest of the place and saw the demon blood, it changed.

"What the hell?" Jace exclaimed. I sighed before disentangling myself from Simon and walked over to the door, pushing past Jace and towards the front door. I got my jacket and walked out into the cool night air, with both of them right behind me.

"It's called a demon slaying Jace. Never heard of it?" I asked sarcastically as I shoved the coat on.

"That's not what I meant, Clary," he huffed in frustration. I rolled my eyes and continued to make my way to Simon's bike. When I got close enough, I turned back to the guys and leaned up against the seat. Jace stood where he was while Simon came up to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Look Jace, it was just a sudden thing. It's not like I fucking _planned_ on finding some demon at the club! I actually did come to have some fun for once! And what the hell are you doing here anyway?" I asked him.

Jace looked pissed off at me, and I mean seriously pissed. "I'm here because I was wanting to make sure that you'd be alright tonight, little Miss Ungrateful!"

"'Ungrateful'? What the hell makes you think that I was in danger tonight anyway? I'm way better at fighting then I once was Jace, so you don't have to follow me around like some fucking bodyguard!" I shouted at him. When he didn't answer right away, I huffed in frustration and turned to Simon.

"Can we go, please?" I asked him and he nodded. I stepped back as he swung his leg over the bike and started it up. As I was about to get onto it myself, I felt a tug on my jacket and looked back to Jace. "What?"

"Can we talk? Please?" he asked me, and I saw a desperate look in his eyes. Sighing, I held my hand up for Simon to wait a minute and followed Jace to the opposite end of the parking lot. When I looked Jace, I saw this sort of scared look to him. _Jace, scared? That isn't possible!_ I thought, but judging by the way that he was wringing his hands, it was.

"Jace are you ok? What's wrong? You look terrified about something," I said as I reached out a hand to try and calm him. What made me jump was when he reached out and wrapped his hand around my wrist and yanked me forward, pulling me into a tight embrace.

"God Clary, I can't believe this!" he whispered into my ear. I pushed back lightly and saw that he was _crying._ I was shocked. Since when did Jace cry? I remember seeing him being serious, cold, and even self-absorbed, but I don't remember him acting like this. He looked like a wounded puppy that had been kicked while it was still down. I was actually worried.

"Jace! What's wrong? Is it because I was just fighting a demon barely armed? Did something happen at the Institute? What? Just tell me!" I said.

"There's something that you need to know Clary," he said nervously, and I sighed. _Just get on with it!_ I thought as I nodded to let him continue. "Clary, I'm-" he started, but all of the sudden, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I held up my hand to Jace and dug my phone out, reading the caller I.D. - _ Iz _I pressed 'accept' on the phone and raised it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said.

_"Clare, you need to get back over her to the Institute now!"_ Izzy exclaimed

"Why, what's wrong? Is my mom ok?" I asked worriedly.

_"Your mom's fine… for now. But it's about Luke,"_ Izzy said hesitantly. _"Clary, Luke's missing."

* * *

_

_**So what did you think of that chapter? Was it something that could have been written by C.C. or was it an amateur attempt at it? Please let me know!**_

_**Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey everyone! Here the next chapter of Welcome Back... Not I'm glad that you seem to be liking this, and I just want to thank everyone for their reviews. Especially from someone named 'GlamourMurderer'. "Horrible woman... brilliant woman"? Thanks, but I only just turned 17 after all. Got a little bit more time before I could actually be called 'woman'. But thanks for it. It's nice to hear things like that, Also, thanks to Alice Whitlock111 and ronnie00 for the criticism. To ronnie00; don't worry, you'll find out the answer to your questions in time. For now, you'll just have to read and wait I'm afraid.**_

_**So anyway, let's get this thing started, shall we? Again, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments series. I just own the occasional random character and stuff like that along with **_**this**_** story's plot line.**_

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**Ch. 3 Clary's POV**

"What are you talking about?" I asked Isabelle. "I thought Luke was still at his meeting with the rest of the wolves!"

"He was, but he called to say that he was finished and was going to see your mom and the line cut out."

"What's wrong?" Jace whispered. I waved him off impatiently, trying to tell him to shut up.

"Maybe it was just the connection that messed up. It's pretty common after all in Brooklyn," I stated, hoping that Luke's M.I.A. was just a fluke.

"Clary, we just bought him a new cell phone at the beginning of summer- one that never loses the line. And I've got the same kind, so it couldn't have been mine," she quickly said before I had the chance to say it.

"I'm coming back," I said before snapping the phone shut and shoving it back in my pocket. "Come on Jace. We gotta go," I said to my brother as I walked back over to Simon, who obviously heard the conversation.

"What happened?" Jace asked as he walked behind me.

"Luke's missing. We're heading back to the Institute!"

,:~:,

"You know, this would be a whole lot easier if you weren't breathing down my neck!" Magnus huffed. As soon as she Izzy had heard the news, she immediately called Magnus and told him to come over, to which he wasn't pleased. Judging by the purple leather vest, electric blue pants, and a dozen handfuls of glitter in his hair and on his body, he was hosting another of his parties.

Jace had taken another of the demon bikes somehow and had followed me and Simon back to the Institute. Of course, being a vamp, Simon couldn't come in and kissed me goodnight. "Call me when you find out what happened," he said before speeding off on his bike. As soon as we got in, I ran to my room and changed back into my Shadowhunter gear.

"Well, I'm sorry," I huffed back. "But it's been two hours now and nothing! Are you sure you're doing it right?"

"Of course I am! Why, do you think you could do better?" he nearly snarled back at me, his cat-eyes darkening to a dangerous color. I sighed angrily but held my tongue. Now wasn't the time for petty bickering. Seeming satisfied, Magnus turned back to his spell book on Hodge's old desk and continued to work on whatever he was doing.

"By the way, you're now paying me extra," he said.

"What?!" Izzy practically screeched. "Luke is missing! He could be hurt or even-" she cut herself off when she saw the deadly glare that I shot at her. "Or something, and you want us to be _paying you_?!"

"Isabelle, just drop it. We'll deal with the money problem later," I said. When she was about to continue protesting, I just held up my hand and she stayed quiet. Great thing about being who I am with my special power; I kind of intimidate others. Alec stood silent in the corner of the library, while Jace on the other hand was no where in the room. I had been so nervous, I didn't notice him leave.

After what felt like another two hours or so but was actually five minutes, Magnus finally found where Luke had been last and gave us the proper location. Then he held out his hand, obviously waiting for his payment. I sighed, but walked back to my room and retrieved my black leather wallet and removed seven twenty dollar bills and one ten. Then I walked back to the library and placed the money in his waiting hands.

"Thank you," he said as he tucked the wad into his pocket. "I think I can show myself out." And with a wave of his hand and some blue sparks, he vanished.

"Why must he always do that?" Alec finally spoke up. I smiled to myself and said, "Because he wants to show off," and I headed to the weapons room to arm myself. When I got there, I saw that Jace was in the room, strapping two blades onto his arms. Another two blades were already strapped into his belt.

"Hey," I simply said as I began to load up on knives, blades, and my gold whip. Enough that I wouldn't be weighted down by the load but still would always have some weapon on me.

"Hey Clary. Listen, can we talk?"

"Later. Right now, we need to find Luke. That's my main priority," I answered sharply before I swiftly left the room, not wanting to start up another fight or something with him. I don't think I could have handled it right now. As I walked over to the elevator to wait, I pulled out my phone and dialed Simon's number. It rang just once before he picked up.

"Clary?" "Yeah, it's me. Listen Simon, we found out where Luke was at before he disappeared. I'm sending you the location. Can you meet us there?" "Sure Clare. I'll be there soon. Love you." "Love you too."

,:~:,

"There was demon activity here and not that long ago," Alec said as he placed his sensor back into his pocket. "Question is, where did go to?"

"Your guess is as good as mine right now," I sighed in frustration as I twirled the handle of my whip in my hands. We had arrived to the corner of the street Luke was last at, the bright lights of restaurant signs and shops lighting the street. But of course, with glamours all around us, the most the mundanes saw was an empty street, not five teenagers, four of which were heavily armed with weapons.

"Well they couldn't have just vanished into thin air, right?" Simon asked. I looked over my shoulder at him and gave my usual 'are you kidding me' look. For the past three years, he's known that some demons can disappear, fly, and other shit like that, and he still forgets. I love him, but some times he can be really loopy.

"I still think that we could use the vampire's smelling abilities and see if we can try to follow a trail," Jace said. '_Follow a trail'? Simon's a vampire, not a bloodhound!_

"Sure, and then I'll just sprout some wings and fly around in the air and be aerial visuals," Izzy said sarcastically. Jace looked sour at the comment, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. "Why don't you just leave this to the professionals, huh Jace?"

"I am- why do you think I'm here?" he asked smugly, and my mood darkened. I turned to stare at him, and I don't know whether it was because he was scared of me or he felt ashamed of trying to joke at a time like this, but he bowed his head and backed up a little.

"Now is not the time to be making your lame-ass comments Jace," I sneered. "We need to keep focus if we're going to find anything to help us find Luke."

"Maybe we should go back and retrace our steps," Izzy offered. "Maybe we overlooked something."

"Hey wait a minute!" Simon exclaimed as he started jogging over to an alley opening not far from where we were standing. We followed right behind him and I saw him kneel down and scoop something off of the ground. I looked over his shoulder and saw what exactly it was; _Luke's glasses._ The lenses were mostly cracked and the frames were twisted into odd looking shapes, like they were almost melted. I felt tears starting to prick at my eyes, but I kept chanting in my head _I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry…_

I was really starting to feel shaken by this. Usually I was better at controlling my emotions, but with everything happening lately, I felt like I was about to break down and bawl my eyes out. I knew that becoming a Shadowhunter would be very dangerous and challenging, but what other choice did I have? My home was gone, my mother in some sort of coma she had placed onto herself, her best friend was a werewolf, my best friend not long after became a vampire, my biological father was wanting to eliminate anything that wasn't like himself, and I had creatures of all kinds who were under his orders to possibly kill me. I had to do something to defend the people that I care about.

Besides, even if I didn't know all these things and everything was back to normal at home, could I really just turn my back on all of this and keep a blind eye whenever I saw a vampire lurking in a club, or some sort of demon waiting in the shadows to kill some innocent human? I couldn't! If I did, I might as well as be the demon about to do the killing, since I would be letting the humans be slaughtered like cattle at a butcher shop.

"Ok, now what?" Alec asked, breaking the silence. I turned, about to start yelling at him, just to somehow let out all my frustration and pain, when I heard something from the back of the alley. I looked down the alley and saw some sort of shape, but my eyes were unable to make out what it was. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the witch light stone there, and raised the bright light high, while I held my whip defensively in my other hand in case it was a threat. When my eyes focused on the object against the wall, both items almost slipped from my grip.

There was Luke, his clothes torn in most places and the usual boots he wore were missing. I walked closer and saw that there was dirt and blood smears all over him, but from what I saw, there were no marks on his body other then a couple of dark bruises. But his face is what was worst. His right eye was swollen shut, there were severe bruises along his jaw, and I saw some blood dripping from his hairline. He was propped up against the side of the building like a rag doll on a little girl's bed; with his arms and legs resting in ways that they shouldn't, like they could be broken.

"Luke!" I yelled as I dropped the stone and whip and dashed over to him. He raised his head and opened his eye as must as he could and smiled warmly at me.

"Clary. You're alright," he whispered.

"Forget about me, Luke. What happened?" I asked as I pulled out my steele to make healing runes on him.

"Clary no, you know what will happen if-" "Relax Luke. I know what I'm doing," I stopped him and pulled the sleeve away from him and began to draw. Once I was done, I watched as the bruises faded and the wound on his head began to close. "Now, tell me what happened!"

"It was Valentine's followers. They said something about having your brother, but I didn't know what they meant. They said that we had him, but that's impossible after all. Jace is-" Luke stopped as he saw Jace come closer to us. "But- I thought that-"

"Don't worry, you're not the only one," I said as I swung his left arm over my shoulders. "Come on, up we go!" I said as I started to pull him up, Jace helping on the other side. "So what happened after that?"

"Of course, they didn't believe me and they attacked. I ran here and tried to transform, but they caught up with me and started attacking before I finished. Eventually, I just passed out, and when I did they left."

"They left?" Jace repeated as we helped Luke walk back to the opening of the alley. "Why would they just leave? That doesn't make any sense!" I had to agree. They wanted information about Jace's location, so why, when their opponent was down, did they just get up and walk away? It was very confusing.

"I have no clue Jace," Luke answered. "All I know is that you better be careful and keep a low profile. If Valentine wants to know where you are, it must be something important."

"But why should I matter? I'm not even his son!" Jace said as he let go of Luke. Due to the shock of what Jace said and the fact that I was trying to hold up Luke by myself, I quite literally lost my grip on Luke as I stumbled backwards. Luckily, Alec caught him and Simon caught me.

"What?" I asked; too shock to say anything else.

"I'm not Valentine's son Clary. We're not related to each other."

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_**So how was that? Needs work, or is it good as it is? Please read and review. It really helps me with knowing how you guys think it's going.**_

_**Thanks!**_

_**Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hi guys! I'm back, and I bring gifts! Sorry it took so long. Been a little busy lately and haven't had a chance to do much typing. But I'm not gonna bother you with the small stuff. **_

_**Dsiclaimer- I don't own anything from the books- no Clary, Jace, Simon, etc. I own the random character that pops up and some things that weren't in the original series.  
**_

Ch. 4

As soon as the words had left my mouth, I felt as though a great burden had been lifted from my shoulders and heart and relief washed over me. After three years of suffering, knowing that I had been in love with my sister, I actually felt free now.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"I'm talking about the fact that Clary and I are not related to one another," I answered, feeling better every time I said it. _Maybe now we can try to be together_ I thought, already imagining going on dates with the girl that held my heart.

"Alright, so we're not related," Clary finally spoke up, still wrapped in the leech's arms. "So what exactly? Am I suppose to be jumping for joy about it or something?" she almost sneered at the idea.

After I had learnt the truth, I thought that when I told Clary- if I would have been able to- that she would have been as happy as I was. I knew that she felt something that night on her birthday when I kissed her. The same burning intensity that I had felt, the electricity I felt every time I merely held her hand. But there was always that small part in the back of my mind that said that she could act like this, and I always crushed it. I guess that the mind is stronger then the heart.

"Well, I just thought that-" "Yeah, well whatever it is that you thought, then you're wrong. OK?" It was more of a statement, not a question.

As I was about to fight back, determined to some part of her that felt for me, I heard a guttural moan from the other end of the alley. I prayed that it would have been some drunk mundane going to pass out, but judging by Clary's expression, it was no such luck. I quickly turned around, angel blade already glowing brightly in hand, and I saw what it was.

Three monstrous Forsaken were standing at the end of the alley, just as grotesque looking as every other that there had been before them. But they still were different; they were much larger then the others, and they emitted an aura that held more power, and nothing about it was a good sign. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clary remove herself from Simon and pick up her gold whip from the ground as she pulled a blade from her belt.

"Get Luke out of here," Clary said in a tone that made me feel like my body would have turned to ice. It was so cold and so out of place coming from the beautiful redhead that I knew.

"But Clary-" "No 'buts' Simon. Luke needs proper medical attention. That rune I made works for Downworlders, but only for a short time period. If he isn't taken care of soon, then the rune will vanish and he'll be worse then before. Now go!"

Seeing that there was no arguing with her, Simon helped Luke up and away from Alec, nearly carrying him over his shoulder, and with a murmured "be careful," he was gone.

"Always am," Clary said under her breath, and the next thing that I knew, she charged towards the Forsaken with Isabelle and Alec, leaving me behind.

I was stunned by all of these changes in Clary. I still remembered that girl from three years ago at Pandemonium, looking so frail and innocent, completely unaware of all the dangers of this world. But now, she acts as though she had been trained as a Shadowhunter all of her life, with fighting skills that put of the best of us to shame, and a determination so fierce, ready to destroy all the demons on the planet.

"Yo Jace!" Clary shouted as she flipped back to where I was standing, narrowly missing a swing from a Forsaken's fist. "Listen, I know you're a little busy, just standing there and all," she said sarcastically as she lashed out with her blade, embedding it into the Forsaken's arm and yanked, cutting it off completely. "But when you have a second, do you think that you could get your head out of the fucking clouds, and- oh, I don't know- _help us?!_"

I snapped out of my stupidity and was going to do so, but before I could so much as even move, Clary yelled something else that I didn't catch over the sound of a guttural groaning, and I was flung backwards into the side of the building next to me, my head the first thing to connect with the solid concrete. Black spots darted quickly in my line of vision and there was the distinct metallic taste of blood in my mouth. The last thing that I heard before I lost total conscious was the agonising sound of the Forsaken dying.

,:~:,

The first thing that I remember when I woke up was the massive headache that racked at my brain. I raised my hand to my forehead and felt that there was gauze wrapped securely around my head. I opened my eyes a crack to see that I was no longer in the alley, but back at the Institute- more precisely, the infirmary.

"Well finally. You're awake," a voice said from the doorway. I turned my head quickly to see who it was. Bad mistake; with the hit to my head, I became dizzy and slumped back down onto the pillows, eyes shut tight.

"Whoa there, Jace. You better take it easy," she said as she came close, and I opened my eyes to see Clary standing beside the bed. "You got some pretty nasty bump on that head of yours," she continued as she grabbed the stele on my bedside table and began to draw healing runes on my upper arm.

"I have to say; I'm surprised," she chuckled lightly, not removing her eyes from her work. "I always thought that if you ever went up against a brick wall with your hard head, the wall would come in bad shape, not you." I couldn't help but laugh along with her at that.

"Oh, that's very amusing Clary." "Yeah, I thought so." Then we both fell silent and it gave me time to watch her as she continued with the runes.

She was dressed in simple clothing like I remember; light jeans and a lavender, sleeveless shirt, perfect for this intense summer heat. The window above my bed was opened, allowing sunlight and fresh air into the room. The wind blew at the few strands of her red hair that had escaped from her hair tie, and the light brightened the colors of it. The light also made the scar on her neck practically _glow_white and made it catch my attention once more.

"What is that?" I asked, raising my hand slightly to gesture at the marking there, and when I did, she immediately tensed.

"It's a scar Jace. I thought you of all people would have known that," she joked, but I could see the nervousness in her eyes and hear it in her voice. "I got it a couple years back during a fight."

"Yeah, sure Clary. Now why don't you tell me what really happened?"

"I'm telling you the truth! Why the hell wouldn't I?" she snapped.

"You're covering for something! I know it!" I accused her.

"So what if I was?! Newsflash Jace- I'm some stupid little kid anymore! I can take care of myself! Besides, why would you really care about anyone from the Clave? After all, you're the one that decided to desert us in the middle of battle, and for what? For some fucking psychopath that tells you he's your daddy dearest?! That's total bullshit!"

"At least I followed my 'father'! I wasn't the one who just gave up on him like you did!" I yelled, and I felt her hand connect with my cheek, hard. When I turned to look back at her, I saw a fury in her eyes that was so intense, that I thought I would have been burnt alive.

"_Valentine is not my father!"_ she hissed at me. "Get that through your fucking thick skull before I make it that it's the last thing that ever does!"

Before I could do anything else; answer her comment or to continue arguing with her, an annoying ringing sound came from somewhere, and when she pulled it out of her back pocket, I realised that it was Clary's cell phone. She looked at the ID and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Hello? Oh hey Simon!" _Simon? What the hell is calling now? It's day!_ "No, I'm not busy. Just finishing up with our own Sleeping Beauty over here," Clary continued, ignoring the murderous glare that I shot at her. "Tonight? Sure, that sounds great. Yeah, I could really use the down time. OK, so at six? Alright, see you later," she laughed before hanging up.

"What was that about?" I asked, and I instantly regretted it. Seems while talking to the leech, Clary completely forgot about me and became the carefree girl she once was. But now, she was back to this new girl.

"It was Simon. He wanted to see if I wanted to go to the movies with him later tonight, since I've been so busy these past few days."

I guess that was alright. I mean, if she's been really busy for the last couple of- Wait, what?

_Days?! _"How long have I been out?" "About three days now. Why do you think we didn't patch you up sooner? We needed to make sure we weren't putting you in some coma or something."

I could hardly believe it. Three days? Did she watch over me as she was doing so before I woke up today? Had she stayed by my side the whole time, holding my hand while whispering words of love? How I wish I knew. I was so caught up in my own thoughts, I hadn't noticed that Clary walked back to the door.

"I'm gonna go tell Maryse that you're away. She said something about bringing you some decent food. And don't worry, I'm not that pissed to have Izzy make it for you," she said. "Even though you deserve it," she mumbled, and before I could open my mouth to beg her not to go- and yes, I was ready to beg- she already left, leaving me to the quiet and still room.

**_So how was that? I know it was shorter then the last one, but just wait. I promise that it'll get better as the story progresses. Also, I'm open for opinions and for ideas from you all. It would be great to have some other ideas for this besides my own. on't forget to read and review!!!!_**

_**Thanks!**_

_**Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Hey you guys! So I've decided that I'm going to continue working on this story. I know, I know... I've got two other stories on this site plus some other stuff I'm working on for other sites, I know. But I've got it under control now. Now that the holidays are over with and all that, I'm able to breath a little better._**

**_Anway, let's get this thing started up again, 'kay?_**

**_Disclaimer: ...You know, it's so long, I can hardly remember my disclaimer for this. :P So just go see the one from my last actual chapter posted for this.

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_**

**Ch. 5**

**Jace's POV**

About a week after the incident with the Forsaken, I was finally up and about. Maryse finally let me get out of bed last night, and when I went to go look for Clary to try and apologize for how much of an ass I'd been, Isabelle told me that she went out on patrol. I think I stayed up until three in the morning before falling asleep in the library waiting for her. My wake-up call this morning wasn't what I'd expect it to be.

The heavy wooden doors slammed open and close, jolting me awake and causing me to fall out of the seat I had been sleeping in. I quickly picked myself up off the floor, the bones in my spine cracking back into place. I looked to see an infuriated Clary stomping her way to the fire demon section of the library.

"Umm…Clary?" I asked timidly as I turned the corner to see her fiery red hair mostly hidden behind a thick text. I don't think she even acknowledged that she heard me. "Are you alright?" The book snapped close with the force behind it.

"Sure, I'm just perfect," she spat out, shoving the book back onto the shelf with enough force that it nearly knocked a couple others off before grabbing a new one and burying her nose in it.

"Are you sure? 'Cause if you want to talk about anything, I'm here to listen," I offered. When she didn't answer me, I got up from the floor beside her to leave.

"Simon and I are finished," Clary whispered from behind the book. I looked to see that there were tears in her eyes.

"What? What happened?"

"Well, after my patrol last night, I decided to go over and see Simon. Luckily for me, his mom was out, so I wouldn't have to try and explain why I was there in the middle of the night dressed like this," she started, pointing to her Shadowhunter gear.

"Then I get there and see that the lights are on, so I call him. When he picks up, he tells me that he's out with some friends. And then he walks out the door with Maia, one of Luke's little pack members, while playing tonsil hockey together. And on top of all that, when he sees me standing there, he tried to convince me that it wasn't what I was thinking! Can you believe that- that _leech_?"

To say that I wasn't expecting something like this to happen would have been a lie, but I wasn't expecting Simon to actually do this so soon to Clary, and to leave her for a werewolf. But then again, the guy hadn't been Mr. Smooth when I first saw him- after all, he was stupid enough to drink something that he didn't know to impress Isabelle and the next thing he knew he was a rat. Now he probably has girls falling at his feet every other day.

"And to think- after all I've done for him!" she continued.

"What? Clary, tell me you didn't-"

"By the Angels Jace, no! Nothing like that!" she stopped me. "I mean the fact that I've saved his life on countless occasions. Like this scar here," she pointed to the one on her neck, "this is from when Simon was so close to death… and I let him drink some of my blood."

"What? Clary, you know that it's against the rules set by the Clave that aiding any Downworlder could lead to losing your own life!"

"I know that Jace, but I couldn't let him die! He was my friend!" When she said 'was', her face got sadder, if that were possible, and she looked down at her feet, and I felt like kicking myself in the ass. Now wasn't the time to start scolding her.

"Come on," I said as I stood up, holding my hand out for Clary to take. She looked up at me confused. "I've got an idea to get your mind off it."

,:~:,

I fell hard onto the mats and quickly rolled to the side, the wooden staff smacking exactly where my head was a second ago. I grabbed the end of it and tugged hard, sending Clary down to the floor beside me. She retaliated by cartwheeling out of the fall and grabbing another weapon from the wall.

It had been about an hour since she had broken up with Simon, and to try and get her to forget about it, I brought her to the training room so she could let it out of her system, and it was the worst idea of my life. I figured I had to of had at least a couple dozen of dozens of bruises along the length of my body, courtesy of the fiery redhead before me.

"Alright, alright," I gasped as I picked myself up off the floor, holding my hands out in surrender. Clary still held her defensive stance, probably thinking that I was trying to fake her out. "How about we call it quits before I wind up in the infirmary again, huh?"

"Sorry," she laughed as she hung up the spear on the rack above the fireplace. I tossed her a bottle of water which she caught easily without even looking.

"By the Angel Clary, where'd you learn to fight like that?" I asked, gulping down some water from my own bottle. "I mean, you've got the skills of Shadowhunters that have trained their whole lives. You've only known about them for three years!"

"That would be the miracle of 'round-the-clock training and studying," she answered as she dried off her face with one of the towels I brought. "I just realized that I had lost a lot of time finding out about myself and decided that it was time for me to catch up."

"Well, it seems you did a great job on studying," I congratulated her before going quiet. It was about another five minutes before either of us talked again.

"Thanks for this Jace, I really needed it," Clary said and lightly kissed my cheek before getting up. "I need to go and take a shower. Isabelle wanted to go have a girl's day out, and I promised I'd go."

,:~:,

**Clary's POV**

"Hey Clary, what do you think of this?" Izzy asked as she came out of the changing room, the small black dress looking even smaller on her tall built. If it were on me, it probably would have reached a couple inches above the knees- it reached mid-thigh on her. It reminded me of the dress that she loaned me the night I went to Magnus' party.

"Don't you have enough of black clothes? I know we're Shadowhunters and all that, but how about a little color like me?" She looked down at the dress and at herself in the mirror.

"I think it looks great on me. I'm gonna buy it," she answered, completely ignoring me and walked back into her changing room. I just shrugged and walked back into mine. I tried on a couple simple t-shirts, a few dark wash jeans, and a knee length red cocktail dress. Not many redheads can pull off the color red, but people say it looks great on me.

"Oh by the way, Magnus is throwing another party tonight," Izzy announced as we walked out of the changing area to pay for the clothes.

"Who's it for this time? Another party for his lost cat, or maybe this time a dog?" I joked.

"Actually, it's for him and Alec. It's been a year now since they hooked up," she answered.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! So who's going?"

"I don't know. Anyone who usually shows up for one of Magnus' parties."

When we got back to the Institute, I ran upstairs to my room to get ready for the party while Isabelle went to go tell Jace before going to order some food from the usual restaurant. I took another quick shower and dried my hair, straightening it with my flat iron till it hung perfectly on my shoulders. I tugged on an old oversized t-shirt while I styled my hair and did my makeup before changing into my sexy green party wrap dress that reached mid-thigh and hung to my body like a second skin. After pulling on some black ankle boots, blessed iron anklets and bracelets, my special strength ring, emerald pendant, and some earrings, I was finally set.

When I got to the kitchen, I found Jace sitting at the table shoving food into his mouth. He looked up when I walked in and his jaw dropped, exposing the disgusting mixture of food in his mouth "Nice Jace," was all I said before grabbing a plate from the drying rack on the counter and grabbing a couple banana-strawberry pancakes from the Styrofoam containers. "You better hurry up or we're gonna leave without you." That got him.

Jace quickly swallowed the food and began coughing on the enormous wad of pancakes and other junk. I quickly grabbed a clean glass from the cupboard and poured some water in before handing it over to him, which he gulped down like a man dying of thirst. When he was done, he gave a breathless "thanks."

"Where is it we're going?"

"Oh, Magnus' place. He's throwing a party for him and Alec and all that," I answered.

"Oh." Judging by the look of pure surprise on his face, I guessed that dear Jace hadn't known about Alec and Magnus being an item. "'Kay then. I'll go get ready." He got out there faster than any one of us when confronted with Isabelle's cooking, and I was left to enjoy my meal.

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**_So how is my comeback? I've been working on it for a while now._**

**_PLZ R&R!_**

**_Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_OK, so I'm back. Hope you all had a good holiday!_**

**_Not going to bore you with the usual stuff, so let's just move along. Disclaimer: Don't own Mortal Instruments, blah, blah, blah... You know the drill. :P

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_**

**Ch. 6**

**Clary's POV**

The trip to Magnus' place was pretty quiet. Well, if you call having only one person doing all the talking- cough, Izzy, cough- to be quiet, then it was perfectly silent. When we got to the house, the lights were flashing different colors and the music was blasting through the open windows. Magnus was lucky that he had no neighbours or there would have been a lot of complaining.

Magnus and Alec were the first ones to greet us at the door. Magnus was in his usual party attire of bright yellow pants, a purple leather vest and the assortment of brightly colored accessories and glitters, making him look like some sort of Picasso painting, and Alec was in his usual dark clothes that he used for parties.

"Ah Clary and Isabelle! So glad you two could make it!" Magnus greeted us, wrapping each of us in over enthusiastic hugs. We were getting along well after the whole him dating Alec thing, but I think he was trying too hard to like us. When he pulled away from Izzy, he looked over both our shoulders to see Jace standing there. "And looks whose back. Hello Jace. Or is it Johnathan?" I cleared my throat to get his attention and when he turned to look at me, I gave him a look that said, 'don't talk about it.' "Well, it doesn't really matter anyway. Come in!"

The living room was the same as the last party that Magnus had. Downworlders of all kinds were out on the dance floor or getting drinks at the bar. Fairies were fluttering around the room, biting on the ankles of the other guests or playing tricks as always. One turned to see the new possible victims and when she saw me, I saw the purple skin of her face grow pale before she flew off in a hurry. Most Downworlders would tend to leave me and my friends alone, fearing the wrath of Valentine's daughter.

"Drink?" a voice asked and I looked down to see a little… person with eyes the color of bright orange and green irises and a lion's tail poking out from underneath a long tunic, holding up a tray with brightly colored liquids in small shot glasses.

"No thanks," I answered as nicely as I could. The creature just smiled at me before walking off to another group of people and offered those drinks. I saw one of the other demons take one and watched as he drank it down before turning into a lizard. The little demon laughed wickedly at the other's stupidity before running off somewhere. Little troublemaker.

"I love Milaka at the best of times, but she has the most annoying desire to constantly be pulling pranks on my other guests," Magnus said.

"So why do you let her come to the parties?" Jace spoke up for the first time since dinner.

"Because I wanted to," Magnus replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Jace just shook his head at the answer he received before making a beeline to the bar.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I know for a fact that you're not just here to celebrate the anniversary of Alec and myself," Magnus stated. I looked at Alec to see that same judgemental look in his eyes when he first met me.

"That's so rude!" Izzy yelled over the blaring of the music. "We came here for my brother to wish him happiness with his relationship!"

"Speak for yourself Iz," I said and she turned to look at me with that wounded puppy stare of hers. I just ignored it and turned back to Magnus. "You know why I came here. Do you have any news on my mother's condition?"

Magnus looked at me with those catlike eyes of his and I could easily tell that he didn't. I knew that I shouldn't have had my hopes up and I didn't, but it didn't make me feel any better that my mother was still in a deep sleep that seemed impossible to wake her from.

And just when I thought that my night couldn't have gotten any worse, it did. Because just at that time, that slime of a vampire Simon came waltzing in the front door, Maia hanging onto his arm like it was a life raft.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?" Izzy hissed at them both, drawing their attention away from each other to us. When Simon saw me standing there, his eyes grew wider before quickly turning back to his calm routine.

"We were invited," Maia grinned at us, her eyes filled with a look of utter pleasure at seeing me majorly upset at her. Oh, how I wanted to punch that smug smile of her face with everything I had.

"Well I'm pretty sure that you were only invited because of us," Jace said as he appeared beside me with two drinks in his hand, one of which he gave to me. I accepted the cup gratefully and took a sip, tasting the sweet mixture of fruits and alcohol. "So why don't you just leave, leech?"

"Why don't you make me, jackass?" Simon snarled, his teeth beginning to grow in his fury. I saw Jace tense up; probably ready to pounce on Simon and begin to punch him to a pulp, so I quickly grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and literally dragged him to the dance floor.

"What did you do that for? I could have taken that parasite!" Jace hissed at me.

"This is supposed to be a party for Alec and Magnus. I'm not going to let you ruin it by starting a fight with my ex!" I hissed back. I guess he understood my point because his facial expression seemed to become calmer. Just as it did, someone bumped into me from behind, causing me to get even closer to Jace to the point where we were attached from the chest to our feet.

"So you wanna dance?" Jace said kind of breathlessly and I could do nothing but nod. He grabbed the cup from my hand and placed it onto a nearby table with his own before wrapping both arms around my waist, my own instinctively wrapping around his neck.

To say that I felt lightheaded would be one hell of an understatement and I knew it didn't have anything to do with the tiny sip I had of my drink. I just remember getting lost in those golden eyes and everything else slipped away from existence.

**Jace's POV**

"Looks like you get over your boyfriends pretty fast, Fray," that vampire sneered as the song finished. Clary blinked back into focus like she had waken from a dream and turned to glare at him.

"Last time I checked, it was 'ex-boyfriend', and what the fuck do you care? You're the one that ended it!"

"Oh come on!" he shouted, causing most of the occupants in the room to turn and watched. Even the DJ turned off the music to hear what was happening. "Do you really think that this has anything to do with Maia?"

"It sure as hell seemed like that when I saw you practically swallowing her tongue the other night!"

"Well at least I was thinking about the person I was kissing instead of someone else!"

"What the hell are you talking about, boy?" I asked him.

"Oh please, like you had no clue," he snarled at me. "Do you really think that she cared about me as much as she did you? Or maybe you thought that she would never come back to you?"

"Hey, newsflash to Captain Fang-boy!" Clary yelled. "I'm standing right here, so don't fucking act like I'm invisible or something!" She shoved him hard in the chest as she said that, catching him in surprise as he tumbled over the coffee table and crashed to the floor, the drinks masking a large mess on the carpet. When he looked up at her, his eyes flashed dark.

"Fine then! You want to know why I broke it off with you? It's because I knew that with _him_ back in the picture," he pointed to me, "It wouldn't have been long before I found the two of you kissing or even-"

Clary must have seen what Simon was about to say, because the next thing you knew, Simon was back on the floor holding his left cheek, an angry red welsh quickly forming and fading from the punch Clary delivered to him. I looked at her to see the most frightening expression that I'd even seen on her face. The fury and absolute loathing in her eyes could have had Agramon, the Greater fear demon, cowering. She looked around to see the Downworlders back away in fear before she stomped out the front door.

"Clary! Clary, wait a minute!" I yelled after her as I jogged to catch up. When I finally did, I had to wrap my arms around her just to stop her from going anywhere.

"Let me go! I'm going back home now!" she shouted as she struggled to get away from me. Then she did something that I hadn't expected- she started crying, turning to wrap her arms around my waist as she cried into my chest.

"Shh… It's ok, I'm right here. I'm here," I whispered into her hair as I lightly patted her back. We were lucky that no one came after us and that we were a block or two from the place. I didn't think that Clary wanted anyone to see her breakdown.

**Isabelle's POV**

I never wanted to hit someone so badly in my life! Simon hurt Clary so bad, and to make matters worse, he rubbed it in her face. My fist swung of its own accord and made a satisfying connection to Simon's gut. It knocked the unnecessary wind out of his lungs and he fell to the floor again holding his stomach.

"How dare you-?" Maia started to scold me, but I just ignored her as I grabbed Simon by the collar and dragged him outside. I'm sure she would have followed me but judging from the commotion I heard, Alec and Magnus had intervened.

"What the hell was that all about?" I asked the vampire.

"I could ask you the same thing!" he exclaimed as he rubbed his sore ribs.

"Oh don't even _try_ to make me look like the bad guy in all this! You know damn well why I did that! You broke Clary's heart! How could you? I thought you cared about her?"

"And I do!" _Huh?_ I guess my face gave away my confusion because he continued.

"Look, I love Clary. Really, I do. It's just that with Jace back in the picture, and he isn't Clary's brother, I knew that Clary would eventually feel her old feelings for him, and I didn't want her to choose between the two of us."

"And so you decided to let her know that by making out with the werewolf?"

"It wasn't supposed to go that way though!" he shouted. "I was planning on explaining it to her the very next day! And it wasn't me that started the kiss, it was Maia!"

"Oh no! You aren't seriously trying to pull _that_ one on me, are you?" I groaned. "I practically _invented_ that one!"

"No, I'm serious! You have to-" "Save your breath, Daylighter. I'm not in the mood to hear this bullshit." And with one more swift kick to the stomach, I walked back up the stairs and back to the party. I knew I should have gone after Clary, but she needed the time alone. Besides, Jace was with her. What could be the harm in that?

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**_PLZ R&R!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Hey guys! So here's the seventh chapter for my story Welcome Back...Not. I'd been trying for a while to figure this one out, but everytime I went to type it, I lost my train of thought and would have to erase it. So here's the version that I'm putting up now. Hopefully, you'll like it._**

**_Disclaimer: Mortal Instruments series belongs to Cassandra Clare, not me.

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_**

**Ch. 7**

**Clary`s POV**

Well after my total mental breakdown and a major bawling-fest, Jace brought me back to the Institute, though I hardly remember the ride back. All I do remember was when we finally got back was that I was so tired that Jace had to literally pick me up and carry me in. I think he asked me if I was alright a couple dozen of times, but I can't remember. I was out the second my head hit the pillow.

The next morning was about as bad as the previous night. With all my crying, my throat was incredibly sore and I had a really bad headache. What can I say? When I cry a lot, I get massive headaches. I probably would have gone right back to bed, except there was someone knocking at my door.

"Come in," I attempted to say, my throat feeling like someone was rubbing sandpaper along the inside. I sat up in my bed as Jace came in with a tray in his hands.

"Hey," he greeted me with a sympathetic smile. "I made you some breakfast. Thought you might want it in here… so you wouldn't have to try and explain anything about last night or something," he said as he sat the ray on my lap. The smell of the freshly cooked bacon and waffles was heavenly, and the ice cold orange juice felt really good on my sore throat.

"Thanks for this Jace. That was really sweet of you," I said.

"No problem. But if you tell anyone about this, I will deny everything," he joked. I couldn't help but laugh as the old Jace attitude started to come back.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked me, and I looked down at my plate as I pushed my food around.

"I guess I feel OK. About as much as a person can when all this happens to them at the same time. I mean, I should have seen this coming and all, but it still is a shock when it actually happens. I'm a Shadowhunter, but that doesn't mean that my life gets the happily ever after that most people dream about." I looked up from my rambling to see Jace was going to say something- probably tell me that I was just putting myself down or something like that- so I kept talking.

"Anyway, I think I'm gonna get changed and go for a run through the park," I said as I got up from bed and handed the tray to Jace before I started pushing him towards the door. "Thanks again for the great breakfast Jace. I really appreciate it." And before he could say anything, I closed the door in his face, turning to rest my back against it as I slid down to the floor.

,:~:,

Well a month after the party incident things were falling back into place, minus Simon. Izzy, Alec, and I were continuing on our nightly patrols, now joined by one Jace… whoever, and there was still no clue as to where Valentine was or what he was planning.

A week ago, we received a letter from the Clave demanding that we were to come Alicante immediately. The Lightwoods were obviously very excited to go back to their old home as well as Jace, but I wasn't as thrilled. Ever since of our last fights with Valentine, the Inquisitor had been determined to find out how I came to be able to create runes and use them for her own needs. That old bat really could get under my skin like no other- even worse than Valentine because I knew I couldn't kill her despite how much I wanted to.

So here we all were, standing outside the Institute with a small pile of luggage beside us- Izzy never could travel light. Magnus was there with us, looking rather odd in the professional three piece black suit and polished leather shoes. If it weren't for his eyes and hair, he could have looked like an average mundane, which I was sure he would hate to know if I told him. Just the way he kept tugging at the collar told me how much he despised dressing like that. He only dressed like that because of where we were going.

"What the hell are we waiting for?" Jace sounded exasperated as he twirled the ruby red handle of a seraph blade, but I guess I shouldn't blame him. This was the place that he grew up in after all and he knew a lot more about it than I did. Most Shadowhunters find Alicante to be considered as home, but I had a bit of a harder time believing that.

"Stop being impatient," Alec hissed at Jace. "The Clave doesn't just open the gateway to Alicante like you'd turn on a switch. If we tried now, who knows where the hell we'll end up?"

'_Always sticking up for the boyfriend, huh Alec?'_ I thought. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Alec found someone that cared for him. Izzy was just as happy for her brother as I was. But something tells me that even after three years of seeing their eldest with a warlock, Maryse and Robert were still uncomfortable about the Downworlder.

"Alec is right Jace," Izzy added. "We could find ourselves in the Lake Lyn!" I laughed at the terrified expression that crossed Jace's face. Probably scared of the thought of getting his precious hair wet. It wouldn't have hurt- the blond strands looked greasy and slimy like a Ravener's scales. Izzy looked over at me like I had grown two heads. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It just seems kind of silly. What's so bad about this Lake Lyn?" I asked.

"Lake Lyn is said to be the very lake that Raziel rose from," Maryse answered for her daughter. "The Lake is also said to have powers in its waters that cause people to die from hallucinations and fevers. Those that were said to have survived had gone mad. Apparently they were thrown into the most secured prisons of Alicante's jail to protect those around them."

"It's time," Magnus suddenly spoke up, stopping whatever comeback Jace was about to say. With a couple flashes of bright lightning at his fingertips, Magnus wove his hands through the air and the courtyard wall of the Institute began glowing as the portal appeared. "Alright then, let's go."

"Clary, wait!" I stopped in my tracks and looked over my shoulder to see Simon jogging his way towards us. I silently cursed at my luck. Seeing Simon was the last thing I wanted before going to meet the Inquisitor Imogen.

"What are you doing here, Lewis?" I snarled as I shrugged my bag higher on my shoulder, my fingers twisting at the black leather straps- though I really wished they were twisting around his throat.

"Clary, I REALLY need to talk to you," he said as he took my hand, ignorant of the fact that there were several other Shadowhunters around him with really dangerous weapons on their persons.

Dropping my bag to the ground, I yanked hard on the hand wrapped around mine as I swatted into a crouch. The vampire before me tumbled to the ground face first, and I jumped on his back as I twisted his arm at a disturbing angle. I could hear the bones begin to snap under the force, but I just grinned and shoved his face even further in the dirt.

"Listen here Lewis. I don't have time to listen to the bullshit that comes out past those little fangs of yours," I hissed. "I've told you before that I didn't ever want to see your face around here again and that if I ever did, you'd regret it. So you'd better get the hell out of here before-"

**Jace's POV**

"Clary, we've got trouble!" I yelled. She looked up at me, clearly annoyed that I'd interrupted her rant, but when she saw that all of us had taken out some form of weapon, she looked over to the direction we were all facing.

There had to of been at least a dozen of Forsaken making their way towards us, each of them nearly as tall as a two-story house. Even at the distance we were from them, the stench rolling off their bodies was so strong it had my stomach churning.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Clary groaned as she jumped off the leech and snapped her whip from her waist and grabbed a seraph blade from her boot. I knew if the situation wasn't so serious, Maryse would have scolded Clary for all the cursing she'd said in the past five minutes.

,:~:,

"There's too many of them," Robert yelled as he ducked the giant club that was thrown at him, missing his head by mere inches. "We need to go through the portal now!"

"Max come on!" Clary yelled as she picked up the young boy by the waist and jumped through the portal after Magnus, shortly followed by the other two women.

"What about him?" Alec asked, nodding his head at the now unconscious form of Simon.

"We'll have to take him with us," Robert answered, slicing at the arm of one Forsaken and slinging his other arm under Simons' shoulder. Alec took his other side and they jumped through. I quickly jumped after them and the weirdest thing happened. As the portal started closing behind me, I caught one last glimpse of the courtyard and saw that the Forsaken had just… disappeared.

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**_Please read and review!_**

**_Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_OK people, so here's the new chapter for Welcome Back... Not! I know it's been a while since I updated on this story, and I'm sorry._**

**_Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns everything in the Mortal Instruments series, including the characters. I just own this version of a remake on the original. :P_**

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******Ch. 8**

**Clary's POV**

When we arrived at the gates of Alicante, we were greeted by the new Inquisitor- Imogen Herondale had been killed in one of our past battles with Valentine- and the rest of the council members.

"Welcome my dear friends to Alicante," the Inquisitor greeted us. "Robert and Maryse, it is so wonderful to see you again. And these are your children I take it?"

"Yes Inquisitor," Robert answered from behind me. "My sons Alec and Max, and my daughter Isabelle. And this is Jace and Clary," he added. I saw the Inquisitor's beady little eyes skim over Jace's face for a second before they landed on me.

"Clarissa Fray." His voice made my skin practically crawl all over. "I must say that it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I would say the same, but we both know that I would be lying," I told him in my usual bittersweet tone.

"Clary!" Maryse hissed at me, clearly telling me to be more respectful, but I just ignored her.

"It is quite alright Maryse," he waved it off with a flick of his hand, his eyes never leaving my face. "Children will be children, after all. And besides, most children take after their parental figures."

"The Lightwoods have nothing to do with my up-bringing," I nearly snarled. _'Who the hell does he think he _is_ talking down about me like that?'_

"I was not referring to the Lightwoods my dear, but your father, Valentine Morgenstern." I could see the flicker of a sick and twisted amusement in his eyes, waiting for me to snap. Instead, my grip on the seraph blade at my belt tightened and I grit my teeth.

"I broke all ties that linked me to that man a long time ago," I said as calmly as I could. "He is no more my father than you would be, Inquisitor." Judging by the way the fury quickly flared in his eyes, he wasn't pleased with my reaction. But as quickly as it appeared, it faded and his expression turned to one of almost boredom.

Instead he turned his gaze over to the rest of my group and his eyes widened. I looked over my shoulder to see Robert and Alec holding up the limp figure of Simon. I felt my entire body tense up- whether from anger at Simon or worry on his behalf, even I didn't know- but I remained where I was.

"And why pray tell is there a vampire among your company, Robert?" the Inquisitor asked.

"We were attacked at the Portal by a group of Forsaken. This boy was with us at the time and was wounded in the fight."

"A vampire out in the middle of the day? That is impossible!" one of the council members roared.

"Obviously, it isn't," I muttered under my breath. I saw Jace staring at me from the corner of his eye and when he went to speak, I shook my head to tell him to keep quiet.

"I had heard rumours that there was a vampire who could walk in the sunlight," the Inquisitor said. "But I just thought that was all they were- rumours. He really is an abomination, isn't he?"

"Simon may be a vampire with interesting abilities," Jace spoke up and I nearly gasped at the fact that he called Simon by his name, "but never the less, he has proved himself to be reliable and brave on many accounts."

The Inquisitor turned to look at Jace and I saw the amusement in his eyes. "Is that so? I'm surprised that you would even know something like that, considering the fact that you had been living with Valentine for the past three years." Jace's head bowed in shame and I felt my fury grow hotter in my gut. Never before had I wanted to rip someone's heart out the way I wanted to do with this jackass of an inquisitor. "Well, once the vampire is well, I will have some of my men take him home for you."

"Thank you very much, Inquisitor," Maryse said graciously and even when I saw two other Shadowhunters gently carry off Simon, treating his unconscious form like fine porcelain, every nerve in my body was screaming at me to stop them. But why? What did she care if something happened to him?

'_Because even though your mind tells you that you hate him, there is still a part of that slab of ice you call a heart that cares for him; if not as a companion, then as a sibling and friend,'_ a little voice spoke in her mind, chipping away at the icy barriers that I had built around myself in the past three years.

"Come then," the Inquisitor said as he waved his hand out to the street. "Allow me to show you where you shall be staying during your time here."

,:~:,

After being showed the grand house by another young Shadowhunter by the name of Aline Penhallow, I had barricaded myself in the room I'd had been given and had spent the next hour laying on my bed looking at the ceiling. Although my body was a little worn out and slightly beaten, I just couldn't shake the feeling like I was overlooking something; something really big that could end this war once and for all.

"Where is it?" I huffed as I rocked myself up into a sitting position. "Valentine wants all three Mortal Instruments… but for what? And by the Angel, where was the mirror hidden?" As I started thinking about everything I'd ever heard about the Angel, someone started knocking on my door. Sighing, I pushed myself off the bed and walked over to the door to open it.

I found Aline's cousin, Sebastian, standing on the other side.

"Hey Sebastian," I greeted him as nicely as I could while still trying to avoid staring him in the eye as much as possible. There was something unnerving about this guy that had me feeling like the pathetic little girl I had been three years ago. Maybe it was how his black eyes could be so lacking in any sort of emotion at times.

"Hey there Clary," he smiled, which gave me another case of shivers. "I just wanted to make sure that you're feeling comfortable and all."

"Yeah… great," I muttered as I tried my best to keep myself calm. The last thing I needed now was to be show any weakness in Alicante. For all I knew, the Inquisitor had other Shadowhunters keeping a close eye on me and waiting for me to do something that could look like I was helping Valentine. "Hey Sebastian, I'm really sorry and all, but I'm kind of tired. I think I'm gonna get some sleep, 'kay?" And before he could say anything, I stepped back and closed the door.

Later that night, I had been lightly sleeping when I woke up to some sort of noise. Opening my eyes as I jumped out of bed with a weapon already glowing in my hand, I saw that there was a small blue fire floating right above the nightstand beside my bed. Realizing that there was no danger as it was a message from Magnus, I instantly relaxed my stance and walked back to the other side of the bed just as the message came fluttering out of the fire.

Snatching the piece of paper from mid-air, I opened it up to see there were only two short sentences written; "Ragnor's house. Midnight." I was a little sceptical, but figuring as I had nothing else to lose, I quickly changed back into my usual fighting garb, loaded my belt with all the necessary weapons and a few extras before quietly slipping out of my room.

"Going somewhere?" I heard someone whisper behind me. I quickly spun around, swinging my arm in effort to punch the person in the stomach, but they reacted just as quickly and grabbed my arm in a solid grip. When I went to swing my leg, they blocked the attack too.

"By the Angel Clary! Stop hitting me!" the person hissed in my ear and I finally recognized the voice to be Jace's.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I bit back at him as I untangled myself from his person.

"You mean 'here' as in this hallway, or 'here' as in on this earth?" he said, loosely quoting the same words he spoke three years ago on my birthday. I don't think it got the desired effect he wanted. Instead of possibly laughing or pointing out his choice of words, my fist went swinging again; this time connecting with his gut and knocking the wind out of him. "Ok… now that… hurt," he gasped from his place on the floor.

"No shit," I said as I held out my hand to show the blessed iron ring which was back on my finger, this time alone I might add. "I don't have time for this Jace. I've got to go." I turned on my heel, leaving him behind.

"Where?" he asked, causing me to stop on the spot. I looked back over my shoulder to see him already back on his feet and walking my way. Frustrated, I started walking again.

"It's none of your damn business, and that's all you need to know," I hissed at him as I took the stairs two at a time which he matched. I was lucky that he was so graceful and I had the foresight to make ruins of stealth on my legs or we would have woken everyone up. Desperately trying to ignore my new shadow, I opened the front door and slipped through, making my way to the stables.

"Does it have something to do with a certain warlock named Ragnor Fell?"

Before I even knew it, I had spun around and pushed Jace up against the wall, one arm holding his at a rather painful angle and the other pushing against the back of his neck, effectively pinning him in place.

"How the hell do you know about Ragnor?" I hissed in his ear.

"The note," Jace choked out. "It was stuck on the bottom of your shoe when you came out of your room. I found it when you walked away." I scoffed at the excuse, but seeing as there weren't any other options of how he knew, I accepted it and released him.

"Well then, you will also know that I'm on a bit of a tight schedule, so if you'll excuse me," I huffed before continuing to the stables.

"You know, I can help you find his house," Jace stated, jogging into the stables as I strapped the saddle onto a pure white horse.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll be fine," I answered, refusing to so much as look at Jace and instead busied myself with the buckles.

"Yeah, I'm sure... except for the fact that I actually _know_ where his house is _and_ besides, you don't want the Lightwoods to wake up and find out that you're gone, do you?" The tone in Jace's voice told me that he knew he had me exactly where he wanted me.

I was seriously debating just knocking him out, hog-tying him and stashing him in a dark corner of the stables- maybe somewhere where the horses took their dump- but I realized that I didn't have a clue where Ragnor's place was and I could very well pass right by it without any knowledge. I sighed in defeat.

"Fine… let's go!"

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**_So there's chapter 8. ope you all liked it._**

**_BTW- recently saw who they've officially casted as Jace for the Mortal Instruments movie, and sorry to say that I'm not impressed in their choice. Don't get me wrong, Jamie Campbell Bower is OK and all, but I just fine that Alex Pettyfer would have been a REALLY good choice. But hey, I'm not the one who gets to choose (unfortunately)._**

**_Good luck Jamie boy! Do us M.I. fans proud! :)_**

**_Nancy (aka megmatchmaker)  
_**


	9. AN

**_OK, I would just like to say that I'm sorry, but there will be no more updates on this story. I just don't feel inspired to write this one anymore. It has nothing to do with my readers or anything, I just don't like writing it. I keep trying, but Welcome Back...Not is starting to feel more like a chore than fun._**

**_Again, I'm really sorry for those who wanted to see what would happen. If anyone would like to take up where I left off, they are more than welcome to it._**

**_Yours truly,_**

**_Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)  
_**


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